Tercero, Roque remain in custody

After Binghamton University experienced two separate student murders last semester, two former students, Orlando Tercero and Michael Roque, are currently in police custody as suspects.

Tercero, 22, is a suspect in the murder of Haley Anderson, a senior nursing student from Westbury, New York. According to police, Tercero strangled Anderson, who was found dead on March 9 after police responded to a welfare check at 23 Oak St., a student residence on Binghamton’s West Side. Before Anderson’s death, Tercero and Anderson had dated, and he was listed as a suspect in a police report on Anderson’s tires being slashed. Anderson declined to press charges in the incident, which occurred on Sept. 16.

Following Anderson’s murder, Tercero fled to Nicaragua, where he has dual citizenship. He was apprehended by Nicaraguan authorities on March 13. Currently, he is in Nicaraguan custody at the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, a prison also known as “El Chipote,” in Managua, Nicaragua. He is facing a second-degree murder charge in the United States, which carries a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Procedures are in motion to extradite him from Nicaragua. However, it is unclear when he will be back in the United States.

Roughly a month after Anderson’s death, another student, Joao Souza, was fatally stabbed in his dorm room in Windham Hall of Mountainview College on April 15. Roque, 20, was apprehended in his dorm room in Hunter Hall of Mountainview College roughly 20 hours later. He has been charged with second-degree murder and was arraigned in Broome County Court on May 17. He is currently in custody at Broome County Jail. A tentative trial date has been set for Sept. 17.